RingoThis will not be organized. It is a rant and nothing more. I do not apologize. You’ve been warned, don’t read unless you want to be mad or give zero shits about medievalism as a hobby, proper sentence structure, spelling, and coherent thought, or Social Justice. Cause we going in with exactly what the world needs, another rich white straight bro talking about toxicity.
Disclaimer…I’m about to engage in some emotional outbursts. I am generalizing and hyperbolizing. I am not looking for accuracy and you should not take it as such. I’m speaking from my experience and how it has felt and looked. I love Steel Fighting. I love the SCA. I love the larps I’ve played and I believe if I had time I would love hema. I think Medievalism is awesome and a worthy hobby. But we’ve cultivated some terrible habits and we should be active in fixing it. I know the people local to me and I work and play with are doing this.
Medievalism may be the most toxic place, disguised as a safe and welcoming environment ever. Due to the large amount of athletic activities it can support and its associations both with fantasy and also learning history it ends up drawing from two of the worst cultures in terms of Fuckbois, Gym Bros and Nerds. Poorly socialized, Misogynistic, primarily White men gather in groups that celebrate and give real, not just social, power to the one who swings sword or stick like object the best. Is it really any surprise it has pulled in, hidden, and supported toxicity in every form?
Perhaps the Largest Organization in the umbrella of Medieval historic sport and hobbies is the SCA. The SCA was originally founded by a what was essentially bunch of fantasy and history buffs looking to celebrate a mythological version of chivalry. It was meant to be a fun party that grew off and took off on its own. One thing I’ve consistently complained about is the primary event in the SCA, the crown tourney, which is based off the original tournament looks like a perversion of that concept to me. We are told Crown tourney is supposed to be a celebration of a consort, a chance to elevate them to queen. The original party, that which start the game, was supposedly started with invitations for people to come defend the honor of their lady and the chance to name them Queen of Love and Beauty. Now adays though, crown is fought to get the political power of king. I don’t mean to disparage any one who has fought or won crown, I’m sure many if not most take the idea of elevating their consort seriously and think that carrying their honor is a burden most worthy.
But I’ve had to many conversations with too many fighters, I’ve heard too much about the pride of being a king and duke, and seen too many political battles to discount that as those as reasons, if not the primary reasons for fighting in Crown. The basis of political power is won at the hands of physical prowess, and has a built in cheat code for anyone willing to take enough pain and shame. And yet the SCA claims it is medieval times as it should have been…is it not moving past might make right one of the best advances of civilization? Can it really be “as it should have been” if power is still won by beating people with a stick?
My first few years of the SCA were full of stories the typical toxic masculinity that pervades almost every sport. Don’t worry about injuries get on the field and walk it off, stretching and warm ups are for wimps, etc etc. I played into this alot, quickly switching to the minimum legal armor and making fun of my friends who wore more…cause I’m a dick I guess? And like that’s honestly the tip of it.
I’ve heard about fighter chasing women in every medievalism sport I’ve tried, where locker room talked turned to how being good, or even just being there with a sword in your hand or wearing armor would get you laid. And the derision poured on the women who were willing to offer their love to these fighter, simply for enjoying a good fuck, was fairly constant.
Like all humans we were of course unable to see the hypocrisy, cause as soon as there is a woman fighter, boom, we turn to the thirstiest motherfuckers on the planet. Like Laurence of Arabia thirsty. It’s kinda disgusting. I’m not immune either. Some comments I made once let to dust up so bad I felt compelled to offer to not attend event another person would be at, due to chance my mere presence made them feel uncomfortable.
We ain’t even talking on the need to focus on “Female Fighters.” Look I get it your gender can effect your place in fighting and if you feel you want a space of all women or that your training requires difference from a mans, sure that’s great. Dudes don’t need to force that on the women though, all we need to do is not get in the way if they want it, or support when they ask for it. And if a woman doesn’t want a woman only space, thats cool too and like, no one should try and push them to it. Or define them as a female fighter. Can just treat em as fighters…and acting like treating them fighters shouldn’t be a big thing…but it always is. We can acknowledge biological differences without making it this huge thing. I don’t make a big deal about training small dude fighters vs big fighters, just talk about the things that do or don’t play based on their size and strength level, compared to the fighters they fight.
Which means dudes, you don’t try to fight them extra hard for daring to share the field with you. Or ignore their shots cause there is no way a woman could hit you. Or take lighter/let them win.
Lets pivot. Lets talk about the toxic exclusion and inclusion of these games. I was told a quote offered to a young fighter with dreams of being a knight in the sca, and I will likely butcher it, but close enough. “You can choose having a family or you can pick being a knight…not sure why’d you ever pick family.” There is a believe in the SCA fight culture that if you aren’t going to events every weekend, you aren’t really trying. If you show up for 3-4 events a year you aren’t really playing. There’s a truth to that in steel too, not that you need to be as active as often, but that somehow you need to get time off every weekend there is a major event and be able to fly across the country 3-4 times a year, plus a Europe trip, to be active.
What about exclusion? Steel fighters think every one is pussies. HEMA thinks no one else knows how to fight and are just swinging wildly, idiots and fools. Boffer games think everyone else is bullies and dicks. SCA manages to think all 3 things are true for all other forms.
Aight enough of that…lets talk about racism. People are alot better about calling out the white nationalists who infiltrate these spaces, but the things that drew them are still there. Nerd activities are white as shit, and they seem to hold European history as above others. Its why neo-pagan shit is so full of nazi fucks wearing norse shit and claiming a need to protect the white line. And we still believe in the nerd social fallacies. Everyone ostracized is our friends. All our friends need to get along. Fuck that shit. Just cause you’re a nerd too, doesn’t mean I need to put up with your racism or sexism.
So much I haven’t touched on and probably a bunch I don’t even know, cause like I’m not in the part of the community that takes historical accuracy seriously or is interested in art shit. Stop telling other people shit about their about their gender, like your the fucking expert. Stop making fun of christians cause you think your atheism is so cool. Stop making fun of people for like sports because you think war gaming is cooler. Stop making fun of straight edges. Stop making fun of people for not living up to your garb level. Stop making fun of people for liking to live the full experience, hand stitching and all. Just stop shaming people for shit that isn’t them hurting others.
People keep claiming that we need to be careful, because going after toxicity is ruining the game. It will break it. Innocents are being persecuted. And honestly a bit of that is true. There are innocents geting hit for bullying and other shit, who are not the problem people. There are specious accusations. And there is drama and negativity that comes from all of this.
But end of the day, these hobbies are games and if they can’t exist without supporting and encouraging racism, Sexism, Toxic masculinity, GateKeeping, and cult like obsession then they don’t deserve to exists and they can burn. Better things will take their place.